Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Disable Forced Encryption on the Nexus 6 for Faster Performance
One of the more talked-about features of Google's new flagship device is the fact that all of the data on the Nexus 6 is encrypted by default. At face value, this certainly seems like an added bonus for the 6-inch phablet, especially in this day and age with growing security concerns abound. It's definitely something that the FBI is none too pleased about.
How To: Enable LED Flash Alerts for Calls & Notifications on Galaxy Devices
I'm the type of person that rarely has an audible ringer enabled on my phone. Haptic feedback (vibration) is enough for me... most of the time. When my phone isn't in my pocket, I become the type of person who frequently misses calls and texts—and no one likes that person.
How To: Record a Snapchat Video While Playing Music on Your iPhone
If you've ever tried to record a Snapchat video of a song playing in your car, you know that it's impossible to do if the song is playing on the same device that you're Snapchatting with.
How To: Slim Down Incoming Call Alerts on Android to a Tiny Lollipop-Style Popup
When playing a game or using an app, incoming call alerts can be extremely irritating on my Galaxy S4 because they insist on taking over the entire screen. The alert is a little different on other Android phones, depending on the manufacturer's skin, but all are fairly intrusive in one way or another.
How To: iOS 8 Glitch Lets You Hide Stock Apps Without Jailbreaking Your iPhone
Apple's newer Tips app may definitely be helpful to some iOS 8 users, but personally, it's not telling me anything I don't already know. Like many other stock Apple apps that I don't use on my iPhone, I immediately hid Tips in a folder, placed that folder to the side, and forgot about it.
How To: Customize Shortcut Icons for Contacts, Playlists, & More on Your iPhone's Home Screen
I've previously shown a few ways to make your iPhone a little more unique by customizing app icons on the home screen, and while those processes did not require a jailbreak, they were a pain in the ass. Thankfully, there's a better way to customize app and shortcut icons that's a lot less convoluted.
YouTube Music Key Is Live: How to Enable Background Playback, Download Tracks, & More
We recently showed you YouTube's new music streaming service, YouTube Music Key, with it's promise of ad-free music complete with background listening and offline play. Well, if you check your YouTube app, there's a good chance that Google flipped on the service for you. Activate the Service
How To: Message Other Drivers on the Road Using Just Their License Plate
Ever wanted to communicate with another driver on the road, but just didn't know how? Sure, you could flag them down by waving or honking at them, but that assumes that they're in close proximity, that you have a unobscured path, and that they're paying attention. And if you're in a fit of road rage, flagging them down probably isn't the best idea for either of you.
How To: Make Siri Play Spotify Music on Your iPhone Running Older iOS Versions [Jailbreak Tweak]
Spotify lets you use Siri commands to play and control music on your iPhone, but it wasn't always like that. It only applies in iOS 13 and later, so if you're on an older iPhone model with an older iOS version, you can use a really complicated workaround in iOS 12 or try a jailbreak tweak on older firmware.
How To: Exclusive Samsung Milk Video App Is Here for Galaxy Devices
As competition for Spotify and Pandora, Samsung released Milk Music earlier in 2014, a free music streaming service for their Android devices. While Milk was unique to Galaxy owners only, it was popular enough that we showed you ways to get it on non-Galaxy devices as well.
Today Only: Download Star-Lord's Official Mixtape for Free
Guardians of the Galaxy was one of 2014's biggest box office hits, and it's thanks to a great cast of characters and some awesome music. Star-Lord's mixtape was given to him by his mother, and it provided the basis for the great movie soundtrack and hilarious plot points.
How To: Add a Custom Background Image to Your iPhone's Control Center
A few months ago, we showed off a great third-party keyboard for iOS 8 called CooolKey which lets you customize the keyboard itself with any background image you want. Well, take that idea and apply it to the Control Center and we have CCBackground.
Quick Tip: Access App Info Pages from Lollipop's Recent Apps Menu
On earlier Android versions, you were able to hold down on an app's icon in the recent apps menu (aka app switcher) and jump straight to the app's info page. From there, you could easily uninstall the app, force-stop its activity, or clear its cache and data.
How To: Update Your OnePlus One to Lollipop Today
The vague 90-day release window for CyanogenMod 12 has done nothing to stop my craving for Lollipop on my OnePlus One. Luckily, there are other "unofficial" means of getting my hands on it. Since CyanogenMod still gives users a way of building their own variants of their ROM, we can install user-compiled versions of CM 12 pretty easily.
How To: Replace Contacts in Your iPhone's App Switcher with System Toggles
From my experience, the recent contacts in the iOS 8 app switcher is a love-hate feature. On the plus side, it's a speed dial for not only phone calls, but messages. On the downside, it's a way for others to see your favorite contacts and who you've contacted most recently.
How To: Fake Your GPS Location on Android to Trick Apps & Targeted Ads
You wouldn't send your GPS coordinates to a completely random stranger just because he or she asked you for it, right? So why are you constantly sharing your location (and other data) to apps on a daily basis?
How To: Get 90 Days of Google Play Music for Free (Instead of Just 30 Days)
When it comes to subscription-based music streaming services, the conversation doesn't go much further than Spotify and Google Play Music (previously called "All Access"). Both services are essentially the same aside from slightly different catalogues and social options, and they both run ten bucks a month for unlimited music streaming and offline track saving (although Spotify does have a free, ad-supported service).
How To: Make Your iPhone's Volume HUD Less Annoying in iOS 8
Back in iOS 7, Apple decided that it was actually a good thing to make the volume controls HUD translucent. This, of course, means that whatever you're watching on your screen will be obstructed temporarily whenever you adjust the volume.
Snapcash: Send Money to Friends Directly in Snapchat
Snapchat is definitely not known for its stellar privacy or security features, but that hasn't stopped them from gaining millions of users. Now, those millions of users can do more than just share pictures and videos—they can share money.
How To: Create & Share Your Own GIFs for Messages in Google Hangouts
While chatting in Hangouts on Android, inserting an emoji or animated sticker can instantly make the conversation more fun, but they'll eventually lose their charm, as most things do. Even if you add GIFs to your texting arsenal, things could get stale. That is, unless they're personalize GIFs you actually make yourself (the process is really simple).
How To: Add Movie Trailers to Your iPhone's Netflix App
At one point, Netflix did have trailers for movies online, but they have long since abandoned the practice for a number of reasons. Firstly, trailers have to be licensed in addition to films themselves. Secondly, previews apparently did not increase the number of titles added to user queues.
How To: Use Your Command Line to Cast Almost Any Music or Video File Type
Using a combination of my phone, laptop, and an arsenal of apps and plugins, I can send pretty much anything to my Chromecast. However, nothing is ever perfect, and the file type that was still giving me headaches were torrent and magnet files.
How To: Theme TouchWiz on Your Galaxy Note 3 with Android Lollipop
While the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is sure to get an Android 5.0 Lollipop update, there's no official confirmation on when exactly that will happen (rumors state January). In the meantime, there are a number of ways to get some of Lollipop's features on your KitKat device right now, but today I'll be focusing on the looks with a Lollipop-themed launcher.
Mario Live Wallpaper: Classic Side-Scrolling Action for Your Home or Lock Screen
Nothing else quite sums up my childhood like Super Mario, the Italian plumber who constantly had to defeat Bowser to save Princess Peach (aka Princess Toadstool) from danger. While it's easy to relive the classic gameplay on your Android with Nintendo emulators, not everyone has time for lengthy quests. Instead, you can get your Mario nostalgia fix with a live wallpaper for your home and/or lock screen.
How To: Play Your Favorite SNES Games in Any Web Browser—No Emulator Required
You'd be hard-pressed to find a working Super Nintendo in someone's house nowadays, but back in my adolescence it was gaming heaven. But now there's no reason to have an SNES console at home, because there are so many ways to play those retro games without one. All it takes is a good emulator.
How To: Make Your iPhone's Dock Transparent in iOS 8
It's not the additions Apple brought to iOS 8 that irk me, but what they didn't add that breaks my heart. We did get some cool new features, like battery stats and interactive notifications, but what about a simple customization feature that most—the option to have a transparent dock background?
How To: Add Custom or Pre-Made HTML5 Widgets to Your Mac's Desktop
Apple hasn't been the most avid supporter of widgets over the years. Yes, they added them to the Notification Center in Yosemite, but that requires a drawer to be opened and closed whenever you want to check them. In my search for a better solution, I came across Ubersicht by developer Felix Hageloh.
How To: Add an Indicator for Download Progress to Your Android’s Status Bar
Not every mod you add to your Android will revolutionize the way you use it, but many of them can make things a little more simple and convenient for you on a regular basis, like sliding across the status bar to adjust brightness or swiping the screen to put your display to sleep.
How To: Stop Accidentally Liking Photos & Videos in Instagram's iPhone App
Instagram is all about sharing and interacting with others, but sometimes we hide in the shadows and lurk. Whether their ex-lovers, current crushes, former high school classmates, or future coworkers, we silently view their content without them knowing. You can deny it all you want, but we've all lurked at one time or another.
How To: Reply to Messages with Your Favorite Rap Lyrics Using RapKey for iPhone
Now that Apple has added support for third-party keyboards in iOS 8, the ways we can communicate with our "peeps" has expanded beyond emojis and standard text messages to GIFs and even rap lyrics now. RapKey takes some of the best and most popular rap lyrics, then lets you choose and send them straight from their easy-to-use keyboard.
How To: Add, Remove, & Rearrange Control Center Toggles on Your iPhone
As far as customization goes, there's nothing you can do to change the look and function of the Control Center on your iPhone. By default, you can't alter the system toggles, but if your device is jailbroken, it's a completely different story. With the help of a tweak from developer plipala, called CCSettings for iOS 8, you can add, remove, and rearrange your Control Center toggles.
How To: Connect a WiFi Network in Your Samsung Galaxy S5
This tutorial video will show you how to connect a wifi network in your Samsung Galaxy S5. This is very easy to employ. So please watch the video. Follow all the steps to do it yourself in your Samsung Galaxy S5 phone and enjoy a wifi environment.
How To: Create Your Own Custom, Polygon-Shaped Wallpapers for Android
While the new Lollipop wallpapers are great, they'll eventually get stale like all of the others. I've covered a bunch of cool Android wallpaper apps previously, including ones that give you psychedelic and shake-to-change options, but this time I was on the hunt for some geometrical-based ones.
How To: Get Detailed Battery Usage Stats for Individual Apps on Your iPhone
One of my favorite new additions to iOS is the ability to view battery usage stats on a per-app basis, which is helpful in knowing exactly which apps are taking up all of my iPhone's battery life. If you jailbreak iOS 8 on your device, you can take Apple's stock battery stats feature even further to give you details on how those apps are actually using the battery.
How To: Tweak System Settings & Activate Hidden Features in Yosemite with TinkerTool
Most diehard Mac users have used TinkerTool at some time or another, and if you haven't, it's time to start. Whether it's to change your system's font or to disable UI animations, it seems like anything you could ever think about tweaking in Mac OS X is doable through TinkerTool. And now, developer Marcel Bresink has updated his app to work with Yosemite, so let's see what it can do now.
How To: Set Up a Connection with Wi-Fi Network in Your Samsung Galaxy S5
This video will show you how to set up a connection with wifi network in your Samsung Galaxy S5. So please watch the video and follow all the steps carefully. Employ the technique in your Samsung Galaxy S5 phone and enjoy a wifi environment.
How To: Sync Reading Lists & Cloud Docs on Your iPhone into a Single Audible Playlist
Audiobooks are great because they require little-to-no effort on your behalf. When driving in traffic, why not listen to George R.R. Martin's lengthy A Feast for Crows instead of repetitive, commercial-laden radio? Maybe it harks back to prepubescent bedtime readings, but having things read to me is a very satisfying experience.
How To: Get Android 5.0 Lollipop on Your Nexus Today
Google has already started to roll out the over-the-air update of Android 5.0 Lollipop to older Nexus series phones and tablets, but chances are it will take a long time for the OTA to hit your device.
How To: Enable Developer Options on Your Nexus
Unlocking "Developer options" on an Android device is useful for many things. You can limit or stop transition animations for a snappier device, enable USB debugging to run fastboot commands, and more. But of course, the first step to making these tweaks is to unlock the hidden settings menu.
How To: Blend Your Android's Status & Nav Bars to Match Any App's Color Scheme
While we wait for our chance to get our hands on Android Lollipop, Google has already released Material Design updates to most of their apps. I love the new direction of the updated UI, but something just seemed to be lacking in tying everything together.